SF Z£^ 






SF 265 
.P6 
1915 
Copy 1 



Test Rules 



AND 



Register of Merit Rules 

American 
Jersey Cattle Club 





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Issued by the Club 
May 4, J015 



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CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Authenticated Fat Tests 5 

Confirmed Butter Tests 8 

Experiment Stations, Fat Tests Made at 6 

General Rules 9 

Register of Merit Rules 18 

Rules Governing Test Supervisors 14 



Test Rules 



Adopted January 2Q, IQ13. Amended January 28 and 
April 15, 1914, and May 4, IQ15 



AUTHENTICATED FAT TESTS 

These are tests supervised by a representative of a 
State, Provincial, or national experiment station or 
agricultural college, v^ho certifies as to the weight of 
the milk, and the percentage of fat it contains, on the 
days on which the cow is under official test. 

Year's Tests 

1. Year's tests cover a period of not more 
than 365 consecutive days, and must be authenti- 
cated by applying the Babcock test to a sample 
of the milk of every milking during two consecu- 
tive days in each month. 

Required Yield 

2. If the test is commenced the day the cow 
is two years old, or previous to that day, she 
must produce, within one year from the date the 
test begins, 250.5 pounds butter-fat. For each 
day the cow is over two years old at the begin- 
ning of her year's test, the amount of butter-fat 
she must produce in the year is fixed by adding 
0.1 (one-tenth) of a pound for each such day 
to the 250.5 pounds required when two years old. 
This ratio of increase applies until the cow is 
five years old at the beginning of her test, when 
the required amount will have reached 360 



pounds, which will be the amount of butter- fat 
required of all cows five years old or over. These 
standards are based upon one complete year's 
record from the time of beginning, regardless of 
any time which may be lost by being dry or 
calving during that period. 

The production of butter-fat in each month 
is to be computed from the results obtained by 
the official application of the Babcock test. 

Seven, Fourteen and Thirty Days' Tests 

3. In the case of tests for seven, fourteen or 
thirty days, the Babcock method must be applied 
to a sample of the milk of every milking during 
the test, and the milk of every milking must be 
weighed. 

No record will be accepted of a test of less 
than twelve pounds of butter-fat in seven con- 
secutive days. 

No record will be accepted of a test for a period 
of thirty consecutive days, or any shorter period 
down to seven days, unless the butter-fat amounts, 
on the average, to one and seven-tenths pounds 
per day. 

No test for seven, fourteen or thirty days will 
be accepted unless same has been begun at least 
twenty-one days after the cow has freshened. 

Fat Tests Made at Experiment 
Stations 

In cases where cows are owned by or have 
been turned over to a State experiment station 
or agricultural college to be tested for one year, 
the animals remaining contimioiisly at the station 
and under the exclusive care and control of the 
station officials during the entire period of the 
test, such tests will be accepted as authenticated, 



and the cows will be eligible to the Register of 
Merit, provided: 

First. — That the yield of butter-fat meets the 
requirements as to yield stated in these rules ; and 

Second. — That the report of the test is signed 
and sworn to by the supervisor and countersigned 
by the director or other qualified official of the 
station, and that it has been conducted either 
according to the regular rules or in accordance 
with the following method : 

1. The milk of each milking during the test 
shall be weighed and the weight recorded. 

2. The milk of each milking shall be carefully 
mixed immediately after milking, and an aliquot 
sample comprising as many cubic centimeters of 
milk as the number of pounds of milk in the 
milking shall be taken, placed in a composite 
sample bottle and carefully preserved. 

3. Each week composite samples representing 
the milk of the entire week shall be tested for 
fat, and the total fat in the week's milk shall be 
computed from the percentage of fat thus shown. 

4. In any fraction of a week, the milk of which 
is included in a test record, the fat percentage 
shall be ascertained in the same way as in a full 
week; and the fat production to be credited to 
the cow shall be the total of the fat of all the 
weeks and fractions of a week embraced by the 
test. 

5. At the end of the test the experiment station 
or agricultural college shall report the test fully 
to the Club on a form furnished for the purpose, 
certifying to the statements made. 



CONFIRMED BUTTER TESTS 
Churn Tests 

1. All confirmed tests shall be churn tests, con- 
firmed by the Babcock, as hereinafter provided. 

No test for seven, fourteen or thirty days will 
be accepted unless same has been begun at least 
twenty-one days after the cow has freshened. 

Babcock Tests 

2. In making confirmed tests, the supervisor 
shall apply the Babcock test to the milk every day 
during the period for which such test is made, 
making a separate test of each milking; except 
in the case of confirmed tests for yearly periods, 
when he shall apply the test to each milking dur- 
ing two consecutive days in each month. If such 
application of the Babcock test practically con- 
firms the test made by the churn, the ''confirmed 
test" may be accepted by the Club. 

Analysis of Butter 

3. Every confirmed test shall be accompanied 
by a chemical analysis of a sample of the butter 
made at each churning ; and no test shall be ac- 
cepted wherein the butter averages less than 
eighty per cent, of fat. 

Computing the Butter 

4. The churned butter made in confirmed tests 
shall be computed on the basis of eighty-five per 
cent, butter-fat, thus reducing butter containing 
varying proportions of butter-fat to a common 
basis for purposes of comparison. 



Production Required 

5. No record will be accepted of a confirmed 
test for a shorter period than seven days, and no 
record will be accepted for a period of thirty 
consecutive days or any shorter period unless the 
churned butter, analyzing eighty per cent, fat, 
amounts, on the average, to two pounds per day. 

No record will be accepted of a confirmed test 
for a period of one year unless the churned butter, 
analyzing eighty per cent, fat, is confirmed by 
Babcock tests indicating yields of butter-fat at 
the various ages in accordance with the provi- 
sions for fat yield in authenticated fat tests. 

Note. — In confirmed tests the supervisor makes re- 
port, on a form furnished for the purpose, of the 
weights of milk and fat, and calculates the equivalent 
of the fat yield in eighty-five per cent, butter. The 
owner of the cow makes report to the Club, on a sepa- 
rate form, of the yield of milk and churned butter,, 
feed given, weight of cow and date of last calving. 
The reports of the person doing the milking and 
churning must be sworn to. The butter is computed by 
the Club on the basis of eighty-five per cent, fat — that; 
is, the cow is credited with the weight of eighty-five 
per cent, butter that the actual churned butter is equiva- 
lent to. 



GENERAL RULES 

Application for Test 

1. No test shall be accepted for record unless 
the cow tested has been admitted to the Herd 
Register of the American Jersey Cattle Club. 
Before a test is commenced application shall be 
made to the Club, ten days' notice being given 
the Secretary in order that arrangements for a 
supervisor may be made, the name and Herd 
Register number of the cow to be tested being 
also stated. 



Test Supervisors 

2. No one is competent under these rules to 
supervise tests unless he is appointed or recom- 
mended, and his reports are countersigned by the 
director, dairy husbandman, or other proper 
authority of a State experiment station or agri- 
cultural college, and no one can supervise tests 
of cattle over which he has charge or in which 
he has any pecuniary interest. 

Institutions sending out supervisors are re- 
quested to change them whenever practicable, so 
that the same man may not go continuously to any 
particular herd. 

Under no circumstances shall any payment or 
gratuity to the supervisor be made by or per- 
mitted from the owner of the cow or any one 
interested in her, and any violation hereof shall 
invalidate the test. 

The owner of the cows under test must pro- 
vide for conveying supervisors to and from rail- 
road station on line of travel. 

The reports of supervisors shall be retained 
permanently on file at the office of the Club. 

Starting Tests 

3. Tests may be begun at any date during 
the lactation period, to continue for not more 
than 365 consecutive days, including any time 
the cow may be dry during this period, but the 
milk record must not begin earlier than the 
fourth day after calving, the day on which the 
calf is dropped being counted as the first day. 

Reporting Milk Yield 

4. The milk of every milking during the con- 
tinuance of a test must be weighed and the 

10 



weights reported to the Club in detail, signed by 
the manager of the cow, on forms provided for 
the purpose. 

The month's milk record in year's tests shall 
be reported to the Club within thirty days after 
the close of each monthly period, and the test 
data for the entire year shall be certified to at 
the conclusion of the test, in the form of an affi- 
davit by the manager of the cow. 

The owner's barn sheets with the original milk 
records of tests should be preserved by owners 
of cows until the Club has either accepted or re- 
jected the tests, and shall be forwarded to the 
Club for inspection if required. 

Feed and Care 

5. The feed and care of cows under test are 
under the control and direction of the owner. 
As far as possible, the weights and quantities 
as well as kinds of feed given the cow should be 
stated. No condiments, condition powders, or 
drugs are permitted to be given the cow, except 
remedies in case of sickness, when statement of 
that given is required. 

Receptacles for Samples 

6. Owners of cows must provide suitable glass 
receptacles for samples, and also a box or closet 
in which same may be kept securely under lock 
and key. 

Retesting 

7. If the milk averages in any two days below 
3.5 per cent, butter-fat, the owner may have 
a retest made, at his own expense, if he so de- 
sires ; but notice of such retesting must be given 
the Club within fifteen days. The Club will 

11 



pay the entire cost of all other retesting required 
by the rules. All data secured in cases of retest- 
ing shall be reported to the Club, and all or 
any of such data may be used in determining the 
average percentage of fat for the month in which 
retesting is called for, the Club reserving the 
right of disregarding the results of any test made 
when a cow is in a decidedly abnormal condition. 

Omission of Monthly Test 

8. In the case of cows freshening after, or 
finishing their tests before, any regular visit of 
the supervisor, the results of the tests made at 
his succeeding visit, in the first case, and of the 
tests made at his previous visit, in the latter, shall 
be used in determining the fat to be credited for 
such portions of monthly periods. 

In cases where, in any monthly period, no tests 
have been made owing to unavoidable circum- 
stances, the institution supervising the test shall 
make explanation to the Club of the circum- 
stances, and the Secretary may authorize the 
average percentage of fat shown by the tests of 
the preceding and succeeding months to be used 
in determining the fat to be credited; provided 
that, in his opinion, good and sufficient cause has 
been shown for the omission. 

Tests Made at Experiment Stations 

9. When a test is made by any State, Pro- 
vincial, or national experiment station or agricul- 
tural college, in conformity with these rules, and 
such test is certified to by the proper officer of 
such station or college, the same may be accepted 
by the Club. The officials of such stations and 
colleges are qualified under these rules to super- 
vise the tests of cows belonging to the institutions 

12 



with which they are officially connected ; and a 
student is qualified to test the cows belonging to 
the college where he studies, under the super- 
vision of the officials aforesaid. 

Rejection of Tests 

10. All tests shall be made and carried on 
as provided in the rules of the Club, but the Ex- 
ecutive Committee shall at all times have the 
power to reject any proffered test on objection 
being made and evidence submitted ; and the Ex- 
ecutive Committee shall be the exclusive judges 
of the sufficiency of any objection and the evi- 
dence submitted in support thereof. The com- 
mittee shall also have the power to expunge from 
the records any test show^n to be erroneous or 
fraudulent. 

Expenses of Testing 

11. The owner of the cows under test shall pay 
all the expenses of testing. The agricultural col- 
lege or experiment station sending out the super- 
visor shall collect from the owner of the cows 
the cost of this supervision and pay the super- 
visor, the Club guaranteeing the station or col- 
lege against loss if the owner fails to pay in any 
particular month; but in such cases the college 
shall stop the tests. 

In cases where the above plan cannot be car- 
ried out by a station, the Club shall charge the 
owner with the expense and pay the supervisor. 
Should the owner fail to reimburse the Club 
each month within thirty days after bill is ren- 
dered him, the test shall be stopped. No test 
shall be published unless all bills for testing have 
been met by the owner of the cow. 

13 



Blank Forms 

12. Blanks for use of the supervisors and the 
owners of cows will be furnished by the Secretary 
of the Club upon request. 

13. All Register of Merit records are published 
free of charge ; but no test shall be published, 
or furnished for publication, until the animal 
making said test is entered in the Register of 
Merit. 

Rules Governing Supervisors of 
Tests 

Identity and Condition of Cow. — 1. The supervisor 
should as far as possible satisfy himself as to the iden- 
tity of the cow under test; he should note upon his re- 
port form any sickness of a cow or other condition 
likely to affect the reliability of a test; he should also 
report any irregularity or suspicious occurrence, and in 
all ways endeavor to conduct a fair test. 

Rules Must be Followed. — 2. The supervisor is not 
at liberty to decide as to which stipulations contained 
herein are essential and which are not, but is required 
to observe these directions in all details. 

Seeing Cow Milked. — 3. A supervisor shall be present 
at and throughout each and every milking during the 
entire test period of two days in each month during 
the test year. In case of tests for shorter periods than 
one year he shall be present at each and every milking 
during the continuance of the test. 

Under no circumstances shall more than one cow 
undergoing test be milked at the same time, and the 
supervisor must in every case be in position to observe 
the milker during the whole milking. 

Weighing Milk. — 4. The supervisor shall assure him- 
self as to the accuracy of the scales used, and they 
should be graduated to pounds and tenths. _ He shall 
weigh the empty milk-^pail before each milking, and 
after the milking he shall satisfy himself that the pail 
contains nothing but the milk drawn from the cow 
under test; he shall take charge of the pail and its con- 
tents, weigh the milk given at each milking immediately 
after it is milked, and record the exact weight of the 
milk on the blank form provided for that purpose. 

14 



Sampling Milk. — 5. The supervisor shall take a sam- 
ple of the milk of each milking for determination of 
butter-fat immediately upon the weighing of the milk, 
being careful that the milk is thoroughly mixed by 
pouring from one pail to another, or by means of a 
dipper, before taking the sample, to insure that it is a 
fair sample of the whole. Such samples must always 
be securely retained until tested under the absolute 
control of the supervisor, and, when not in his actual 
possession, under lock and key, if necessary, and the 
testing shall be proceeded with as soon as convenient 
after the samples have cooled to ordinary room tem- 
perature. 

Applying the Bahcock Test. — 6. The supervisor shall 
apply the Babcock test to the milk of every milking 
during the test period of two days in each month dur- 
ing the test year, making a separate test of each milk- 
ing. In the case of tests for shorter periods than one 
year he shall make a separate test of each milking dur- 
ing the continuance of the test. He shall determine the 
percentage of butter-fat in each sample, placing the re- 
quired amount of milk from the sample in at least two 
test bottles for that purpose, recording the readings of 
both bottles. Should the reading of such butter-fat 
show a greater variation than two-tenths of one per 
cent, between two bottles, the supervisor shall make 
another determination of the percentage of butter-fat 
by two test bottles to correct the previous one. If the 
variations between the two determinations is two-tenths 
or less of one per cent, the supervisor shall take the 
mean between the two decimal fractions as the percentage 
of butter-fat upon which he shall calculate the total fat 
in such milk. Readings of test bottles should be made 
when at a temperature of about 130 degrees F. The 
supervisor shall record in ink the total amount of but- 
ter-fat shown by the Babcock test to have been con- 
tained in the milk of each milking. 

Determining Fat Percentage. — 7. The average per- 
centage of fat shall be determined by dividing the total 
yield of fat shown by the tests by the total amount of 
the milk tested. Fat percentages must be carried out 
to at least three decimal degrees. 

Retesting. — 8. (a) If in the supervision of any test the 
supervisor finds that the yield of fat in any two days 
after the first month of the test period is in excess of 
the appropriate amount specified in the following table, 
he shall inform at once the authority by which he was 

15 



appointed, so that a retest for two days by another test 
supervisor shall be made within ten days after the ter- 
mination of the first test: 



LACTATION 
PERIOD 


CLASS I 

Cows not over 
30 Mos. at 
start of test 


CLASS II 

Cows over 30 

Mos. and under 

5 Yrs. at start 

of test 


CLASS III 

Cows 5 Yrs. or 

over at start 

of test 




Lbs. Fat 
in Two Days 


Lbs. Fat 
in Two Days 


Lbs. Fat 
in Two Days 


1st to 6th 

month, incl. . . 

7th to 12th 

month, incl. . . 


3.75 
3.00 


4.75 
4.00 


5.00 
4.33 



(b) If in the supervision of any test the supervisor 
finds that the milk averages for the two days above 
seven per cent, butter-fat when it averages thirty 
pounds or over per day, or above eight per cent, when 
it averages fifteen pounds or over per day, there shall 
be a retest as stipulated in Section 8 (a). 

Lost Milk and Lost Samples.— 9. If any or all of the 
milk of a milking is accidentally lost before weighing, 
the weight of that which has been lost is to be supplied 
by taking the weight of the corresponding milking in 
the test period ; and if the sample from any milking is 
accidentally lost before testing, the missing test is to 
be obtained by taking the results of the tests made of 
the corresponding milking during the test. For exam- 
ple, if an evening milking is involved, the preceding or 
succeeding evening milking shall be used. It must be 
stated on the report form that any data thus obtained 
are estimated. 

Reports of Supervisors. — 10. The supervisor shall 
sign his reports, and shall send them promptly, for 
checking and indorsement, to the agricultural college, 
State experiment station, or other institution under 
whose authority he acts, accompanied by a memoran- 
dum of his expenses. 

A preliminary report shall be mailed by the supervisor 
immediately after the test direct from the farm to the 
Secretary of the Club. 

16 



Special Rules for Supervisors of 
Confirmed Butter Tests 

Computing Butter. — In confirmed butter tests butter 
shall be computed on the basis of eighty-five per cent, 
butter-fat. 

Analysis of Butter. — Every confirmed butter test shall 
be accompanied by a chemical analysis of a sample of 
the butter made at each churning. It shall, therefore, 
be the duty of the supervisor to procure samples of 
butter from each churning made while he is testing the 
cow, and to send the same to, or as directed by, the 
Club, securely sealed, for the purpose of analysis. 
Should a churning not have been made during the time 
the supervisor is taking the Babcock test of the milk 
of the cow, he shall remain at the expense of the owner 
until one churning has been made, so that he can pro- 
cure a sample. The supervisor will be careful to see 
that the butter he sends as a sample is taken from each 
churning, should there be more than one, and that the 
same remains securely in his possession from the time 
such sample is taken until sent to, or as directed by, the 
Club. The supervisor will instruct the owner to send 
for analysis a sample of the butter of any churning 
made after he leaves. 

Samples of Skim-Milk and Buttermilk. — In confirmed 
butter tests it is very desirable, though not compulsory, 
that the supervisor procure a sample of the skim-milk 
after each skimming, and also of the buttermilk, and 
ascertain the percentage of butter-fat that was lost by 
skimming and churning and report the same. 



Register of Merit Rules 



With the purpose of raising to a still higher 
standard the average excellence of the Jersey 
cow, and of securing an additional authoritative 
and permanent record to which reference can 
be made in the selection of breeding animals, the 
American Jersey Cattle Club has adopted the 
following rules for the establishment of a Reg- 
ister of Merit, to which shall be eligible meri- 
torious bulls and cows, judged by the standards 
of progeny and dairy performance. All animals 
previously entered in the Herd Register of the 
American Jersey Cattle Club may be recorded 
in the Register of Merit when they comply with 
one or more of the following conditions : 

Basis of Entry of Cows. — No application for 
entry in the Register of Merit based upon the 
production of butter-fat shall be entertained un- 
less accompanied with proof of compliance with 
the rules for making authenticated fat tests, and 
no application for entry in said Register based 
upon the production of butter shall be enter- 
tained unless accompanied with proof of com- 
pliance with the rules for making confirmed 
butter tests. 

Class AA. — A cow shall be entitled to entry 
in Class AA after the production, in one year, 
of the amount of butter or butter-fat specified 
in the test rules, provided that said application 
shall be accompanied with proof by the affidavit 
of the manager of the cow (attested by the cer- 

18 



tificate of the owner thereof, where the owner 
is not the manager) that said cow has either 
dropped a living calf during the period covered 
by said test and not less than 155 days after the 
beginning thereof, or has dropped a living calf 
within 125 days after the completion of said test. 
Cows already entered in Class A may, upon 
application therefor, be transferred to Class AA, 
upon presentation of the additional proof above 
specified as requisite to entitle animals to entry 
in said class. 

Class A. — A cow shall be entitled to entry in 
Class A after the production, in one year, of the 
amount of butter or butter-fat specified in the 
test rules. 

Class B. — A cow shall be entitled to entry in 
Class B after the production in seven days of the 
amount of butter or butter-fat specified in the 
test rules. 

Re-entry. — Cows which have already been en- 
tered in the Register of Merit, upon meeting 
the requirements in another test, will be re-en- 
tered under the same number, and certificate is- 
sued free of charge. 

Bulls. — A bull shall be entitled to entry in said 
Register of Merit after three of his daughters 
from as many different dams have been entered 
therein on year's authenticated butter-fat or 
butter records. When a bull becomes eligible 
to the Register of Merit, he shall be entered 
therein by the Secretary, without application 
being made, and free of charge. 

Certificates of Entry. — The Secretary shall 
issue certificates of entry of all animals admitted 
to the Register of Merit. The application, and 

19 



all other evidence on which he makes such entry, 
shall be kept on file by him and be subject to ex- 
amination by any member of the American Jer- 
sey Cattle Club. 

Fees. — The fee for entering a cow in the Regis- 
ter of Merit and issuing a certificate, which shall 
set forth the record made by the animal, shall 
be $2. This fee must be sent with the final re- 
port of a test by the owner [Form No. 62, which 
also constitutes the application for entry of the 
cow in the Register of Merit], the amount of 
fee to be returned if cow does not qualify, or 
placed to the remitter's credit, as directed. If 
a certificate of entry of a bull is desired, the 
same may be obtained by paying a fee of $2. 

Supervision and Direction. — The Register of 
Merit shall be under the general supervision and 
direction of the Executive Committee. 

The Secretary of the Club is authorized, under 
direction of the Executive Committee, to prepare 
said Register, and to publish the blank forms 
and circulars needed in carrying this system into 
efifect. 



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